Gen Bajwa awarded highest Saudi honour

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has awarded army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa with King Abdulaziz Medal for making "significant contributions in defence cooperation" between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement on Sunday.

The army chief visited Saudi Arabia on an official tour, during which he called on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and General Fayyadh Bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, Chief of General Staff (CGS) of the Saudi Armed Forces at Jeddah.

Matters of mutual interest, bilateral defence and security cooperation and regional peace and stability came into discussion during the meeting.

As per the ISPR, the COAS said that Pakistan "values its historical and brotherly relations with the Kingdom and acknowledges its unique place in the Islamic world”.

Both sides agreed upon enhancing defence cooperation in the fields of joint training, air defence, counter-terrorism and communication and information domain.

Read COAS Gen Qamar Bajwa, his wife visit ailing Musharraf in Dubai

"They also agreed to further enhance cordial relations and deep spirit of brotherhood into enduring strategic partnership, being vital players in the region with significant responsibility towards unity of Ummah," ISPR said.

Meanwhile, Arab News, quoting a Saudi news agency, also reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the kingdom's first deputy prime minister and defence minister, honoured the army chief with the award in appreciation of his distinguished efforts in strengthening and developing Saudi-Pakistani relations.

The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that Prince Mohammed conferred Gen Qamar with the King Abdulaziz Medal of Excellent Class for his "distinguished efforts in consolidating and strengthening bonds of friendship and joint cooperation and developing Saudi-Pakistani relations".

Gen Qamar was received by Prince Mohammed, with whom a meeting was held on a host of issues, the SPA report said.

"In implementation of the order of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, HRH the Crown Prince decorated the Commander of the Pakistani Army with King Abdulaziz Medal of Excellent Class in recognition of his distinguished efforts in consolidating and strengthening bonds of friendship and joint cooperation and developing Saudi-Pakistani relations," the SPA said.

PM felicitates COAS

Shortly afterwards, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the army chief for receiving the honour.

Taking to Twitter, the prime minister said it was a great honour for the people and the armed forces of Pakistan.

"Heartiest congratulations to Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on conferment of King Abdulaziz Medal for his contributions to strengthening defence ties between our two brotherly countries. It is a great honour for the people and the armed forces of Pakistan," he said.

The prime minister, in a following related tweet, said Pakistan considered KSA’s security as its own and resolved to further cementing of multifaceted bilateral ties between the two countries.

“We consider the security of Saudi Arabia as our own and are completely resolved to further cementing our multifaceted bilateral relationship including excellent defence cooperation,” he added.

Order of King Abdulaziz

As per the Saudi media, the Order of King Abdulaziz, named after Saudi Arabia’s founding King Abdulaziz Al Saud, is considered the highest civilian honour in the kingdom.

The order was officially inaugurated by King Faisal on March 20, 1971, it said, adding that the earlier version of the order was called ‘Great Chain of Badr’.

According to Al-Arabiya, the medal has been presented to several world leaders, including former US President Donald Trump. The medal was recently given to other heads of states, including former US President Barack Obama, former French President Francois Hollande, Egyptian President Abdelfattah el-Sisi, and most recently to Chinese President Xi Jinping.